GAME REPORT

Stars Shine In Samara Victory

Krasnye Krylia Samara recovered from a slow start to dominate in a 78-60 win over Gaz Metan Medias in EuroChallenge Group I.

The visitors from Romania began brightly, with Serbian forward Bojan Radetic converting a three-point play to give Gaz Metan Medias a 20-15 first-quarter lead.

Krasnye Krylia came storming back as a long-range barrage spurred an 18-2 run in the second period, with Demetris Nichols hitting back-to-back shots to put the hosts into the lead.

Point guard Aaron Miles was conducting the offence beautifully, assisting on nine of Samara's first 11 field goals on his way to tying a season-high 13 assists.

And the home team were quick to get into transition at every opportunity, notching 28 fast-break points in total as they blew the game open in the third quarter.

Polish international forward Michal Ignerski was a key figure, grabbing five steals to go with a team-high 18 points. Filip Videnov added 16 points and Victor Keyru had 14.

Krasnye Krylia finish the Last 16 with a decisive home game against PO Antwerp Giants on 25 February, looking to make the quarter-final play-offs.

Slavisa Bogavac led the visitors with 19 points. Gaz Metan Medias play group leaders Tartu Rock in their last Group I match.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes Krasnye Krylia Samara vs. Gaz Metan Medias

Krasnye Krylia Head Coach Sergey Bazarevich"We are glad to win after two losses in two competitions. But I am not satisfied with the game we played, especially with how our bigs played inside defensively and offensively, maybe except [Michal] Ignerski, who played a very good game. There was a reason for this, because the team was frustrated, as we lost one of the main pieces, such as Anton [Ponkrashov], who was a big part of our team. But I still think that we can and should play better."

Krasnye Krylia Player Victor Keyru"After Anton Ponkrashov's departure, we do not think about who's to become the true leader on the team. The most important thing right now is to win in every game. If you ask me, I am being optimistic about the future; I hope everything will be great in our team. With that kind of a roster we can achieve a lot."

Gaz Metan Head Coach Marcel Tenter"The game was very hard for us. Currently we are missing four players, and that was the reason that we couldn't play intense for the whole game. However, we play for the win in every game. And after those four players get back we will get better."

Gaz Metan Player Kyle Shiloh"Congratulations to our opponents on the win. We played well in the first half, but later in the third quarter started to fall behind. We have missed our open shots, our opponent scored their shots. And here is the result. I think Krasnye Krylila have good chances to advance to the play-offs of the EuroChallenge."